Well, not 2 years for me ... more like 1.5 years, but a whiles anyway.
(apologies for long text, I'm bored ;-))
When I first saw this game I thought 'God that looks boring', but after looking over someone's shoulder for about a month I thought there might be something to it. So, having found the 'kill mob' button (F6) it actually was quite interesting killing the same monsters 10, 100, 10,000 times over. From there on its a little hazy, but then it was a time before BG, SI, DF ...
I remember the first trip into Emain - I wonder if there ever was any active RvR anywhere else ... - as a lvl 30-something n00b following the Zerg, and thinking some dramatic thing had happened when we got through the MG (well, at level 30 it is pretty dramatic ;-). That was a time when to get an RvR group meant being 40-something, preferably 45+. As a cleric you were viable at 45, and Ravenx spent a good 6 months at that level running around Emain, helping out on the odd epic and roaming pennines. There was usually some kind of attack on the relic keep every month, or even week. Usually getting wiped in a few seconds by irate hibs, but it was fun to run through the frontiers rather than the 3-point APK->DC->MPK.
Since then ... graphics updates, a few bug fixes. So no more "gfx bug, relog", but then it was never going to get much prettier than sunrise over Humberton, or sunset behind Jamtland Mountains.
Well playing the Cleric got a little tiresome (and getting 2-shotted by Zerkers), so time to make use of one of those 4 slots ... cabalists were a little played, little understood character with pets. So heading onto a path of matter, single dotting mobs, praying the pet would hit occasionally, running around like some headless chicken while the 6 ticks went slowly past. Somewhere in there BG appeared, with the novelty of flinging spells across bridges, while watching out for side-attacks. There was the amusing time when the doors were upgraded to level 8 (?), which took a little while for elm-rams to take down.
The appearance of SI - then DF - brought the Cleric upto 50 (like trees, only taking half the time). Tangler's made short work of the cabalist's levels, and those pesky lvl 30-40 chaining groups were never to be seen again. And all those unguilded, /anon, cabalists ...
Somewhere in those mists of time crafting came in, rogs appeared, keeps got claimed, relic raiding became the preserve of the alarm clock and log-in, homes were made, and necro's PLed a thousand infiltrators.
I find it odd that - for me - the best and worst of DaoC/excal has played out in the last couple of months. The sheer scale of organisation of relic raiding at prime-time, the deflation of that effort being undermined by underhand attacks, the 3-hour marathons of AMG fights, desperate holds at keep doors. But then, the interest wanes, the fights disappear, the players return to their FotM's and Emain.
Its difficult to think outside of being a long-time player, but it feels like a lot of the gameplay that kept me playing has been chipped away. Item inflation, crafting, buffbots, expansion packs have undermined a lot of the variety, questing and general interest in the 'world'. RvR isn't a challenge, its unbalanced trite. Why does one side win in RvR? Skill? The RA's, crafting, and buffbots? Realm balance? Relics? I die because someone's hitting me for 400 a tick, or they have 3 mates behind them all hitting /assist.
So I guess my tenure here is drawing to a close. F6 no longer holds interest, relic fights are rarer than a French technician at weekends, and the casual player need not apply to RvR.
So I guess the question is - if there is one - am I just bored of this, or has the game gone down-hill?
/salute to the most RvR active server in the world
(apologies for long text, I'm bored ;-))
When I first saw this game I thought 'God that looks boring', but after looking over someone's shoulder for about a month I thought there might be something to it. So, having found the 'kill mob' button (F6) it actually was quite interesting killing the same monsters 10, 100, 10,000 times over. From there on its a little hazy, but then it was a time before BG, SI, DF ...
I remember the first trip into Emain - I wonder if there ever was any active RvR anywhere else ... - as a lvl 30-something n00b following the Zerg, and thinking some dramatic thing had happened when we got through the MG (well, at level 30 it is pretty dramatic ;-). That was a time when to get an RvR group meant being 40-something, preferably 45+. As a cleric you were viable at 45, and Ravenx spent a good 6 months at that level running around Emain, helping out on the odd epic and roaming pennines. There was usually some kind of attack on the relic keep every month, or even week. Usually getting wiped in a few seconds by irate hibs, but it was fun to run through the frontiers rather than the 3-point APK->DC->MPK.
Since then ... graphics updates, a few bug fixes. So no more "gfx bug, relog", but then it was never going to get much prettier than sunrise over Humberton, or sunset behind Jamtland Mountains.
Well playing the Cleric got a little tiresome (and getting 2-shotted by Zerkers), so time to make use of one of those 4 slots ... cabalists were a little played, little understood character with pets. So heading onto a path of matter, single dotting mobs, praying the pet would hit occasionally, running around like some headless chicken while the 6 ticks went slowly past. Somewhere in there BG appeared, with the novelty of flinging spells across bridges, while watching out for side-attacks. There was the amusing time when the doors were upgraded to level 8 (?), which took a little while for elm-rams to take down.
The appearance of SI - then DF - brought the Cleric upto 50 (like trees, only taking half the time). Tangler's made short work of the cabalist's levels, and those pesky lvl 30-40 chaining groups were never to be seen again. And all those unguilded, /anon, cabalists ...
Somewhere in those mists of time crafting came in, rogs appeared, keeps got claimed, relic raiding became the preserve of the alarm clock and log-in, homes were made, and necro's PLed a thousand infiltrators.
I find it odd that - for me - the best and worst of DaoC/excal has played out in the last couple of months. The sheer scale of organisation of relic raiding at prime-time, the deflation of that effort being undermined by underhand attacks, the 3-hour marathons of AMG fights, desperate holds at keep doors. But then, the interest wanes, the fights disappear, the players return to their FotM's and Emain.
Its difficult to think outside of being a long-time player, but it feels like a lot of the gameplay that kept me playing has been chipped away. Item inflation, crafting, buffbots, expansion packs have undermined a lot of the variety, questing and general interest in the 'world'. RvR isn't a challenge, its unbalanced trite. Why does one side win in RvR? Skill? The RA's, crafting, and buffbots? Realm balance? Relics? I die because someone's hitting me for 400 a tick, or they have 3 mates behind them all hitting /assist.
So I guess my tenure here is drawing to a close. F6 no longer holds interest, relic fights are rarer than a French technician at weekends, and the casual player need not apply to RvR.
So I guess the question is - if there is one - am I just bored of this, or has the game gone down-hill?
/salute to the most RvR active server in the world
), and I now wish that it had been a nightshade that 1 hit killed me and id rolled an inf instead ;}
shame them damn hibbys wont stop ganking me bah!! 
played for 2years now.
Expansions / patches have brought a ton of new stuff, some good, some bad, but all of it interesting... ToA is going to be a good and bad thing, but Frontiers sounds mostly good at the moment. There's at least another year in it before I'll get bored 
